<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2z2nNH_1H2qvlJa00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2z2nNH_1H2qvlJa00" width="640" height="480" ><figcaption>An employee at Flynn’s Tire &amp; Auto Service on Route 30 in Hempfield helps a customer on Thursday. (Patrick Varine | TribLive)</figcaption></figure>When the words “possible snow flurries” show up in the forecast, Neal Morgan knows his shop, Flynn’s Tire in Hempfield, is about to get busy.“Typically, the week or two before Thanksgiving, everyone is getting their vehicles ready for that first snow,” Morgan said. “Things get overwhelming here, and we end up with a line around the building.”Flynn’s and other tire shops have been stocking up on product, and with potential winter weather in the forecast this weekend, they are preparing for a rush of customers.Shannon Hefferan, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh office in Moon, said Westmoreland and Fayette counties could see half an inch of snow between Thursday night and Saturday. Allegheny County is unlikely to see any accumulation, she said.“It’s not a very big weather event for the first snow,” she said.Brad Bonnett, president at Highland Tire in Tarentum, echoed Morgan’s sentiments.“Business picked up as soon as they mentioned snow in the forecast,” he said.While the practice of buying sets of winter tires seems to be dying a little bit, Highland Tire still sells a decent number of winter tires each year, Bonnett said.Winter tires provide the best traction on snow, he said.The rubber compound in winter tires stays soft in the cold, whereas other tire rubber compounds get hard, Bonnett said. Winter tires also have more siping in the tire — siping is the process of cutting thin, shallow slits across a tire’s surface for improved traction — and are able to grab more snow.Morgan said he’s seen fewer drivers purchasing winter-specific tires in recent years.“Typically, with today’s all-wheel-drive systems, an all-weather tire is pretty much sufficient in this area,” he said. “It’s more customer preference than anything else.”With 33 locations in Southwestern Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio, Flynn’s Tire still carries winter tires and gets requests for them in snowier areas such as Erie and Clarion.“As we all know, things have gone up in price, and tires are no exception,” said Joe Durkoske, general retail manager at the Flynn’s location on Golden Mile Highway in Plum.Consumers can expect to pay a slightly higher price for tires this winter, Bonnett said. He couldn’t give a specific figure because tire prices vary by size and vehicle type. A lot of the price change is due to freight shipment costs, he said.Morgan said he tries to absorb as much of the cost increase as he can.“We try not to move the cost to the customer if we can help it,” he said. “We pride ourselves on being a budget tire center, in order to compete with places like Goodyear or Firestone. We can get any tire a customer wants, but we typically stock the economy brands. In this day and age, people are often trying to save money and don’t want to spend $300 per tire.”Durkoske said while the cost to make tires and transport them has gone up, the type of tires used on common cars is slowly becoming larger, which also adds to the cost.“If you bought an average vehicle like a Ford Edge or a minivan or a small SUV 10 to 12 years ago, it might have had 16- to 17-inch tires on it,” Durkoske said. “Now it might have 18-, 19-, even 20-inch tires.”If a vehicle owner decides to keep the same set of tires year-round, Durkoske recommends a few tips to help the set’s longevity.He recommended the tires be rotated every time the car’s oil is changed. Drivers should also keep an eye on air pressure. Overinflation and underinflation can lead to premature wear, Durkoske said. He also recommends checking a vehicle’s alignment regularly.If a vehicle owner is interested in purchasing winter tires, Durkoske recommends getting them before the snow starts.“Once snow starts coming, it’s hard to get into any tire shop quickly,” he said. “The sooner, the better.”</div></body>

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When the words “possible snow flurries” show up in the forecast, Neal Morgan knows his shop, Flynn’s Tire in Hempfield, is about to get busy. “Typically, the week or two before Thanksgiving, everyone is getting their vehicles ready for that first snow,” Morgan said. “Things get overwhelming here, and we end up with a line around the building.”

Wintry forecast spins up business for tire shops

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When the words “possible snow flurries” show up in the forecast, Neal Morgan knows his shop, Flynn’s Tire in Hempfield, is about to get busy. “Typically, t

Wintry forecast spins up business for tire shops

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